Schemes to curb the criminal activities of persistent young offenders are being launched across the country. They will target those who are estimated to commit a quarter of all youth crime. It has long been recognized that short custodial sentences are not effective in changing behaviour and preventing further offending. The programme of 41 schemes aims to keep young offenders out of custody in favour of a quality-assured community sentence where they are closely monitored and supervised in a hands-on approach by Youth Offending Teams aware of individual needs. The Youth Justice Board for England and Wales will manage the programme which will give magistrates a robust alternative to custodial sentences and remands for young hardcore repeat offenders.The programme includes individually tailored packages of reparation, training and education measures designed to both punish offenders and tackle their offending behaviour. Offenders on the programme could be cleaning up graffiti on vandalised estates, while also undertaking highly structured literacy or numeracy programmes, and where appropriate undergoing drug rehabilitation.

A growing lack of affordable housing is threatening recruitment to public services and undermining government strategy to raise standards. The warning comes in a report by The Institute for Public Policy Research the centre-left think tankThe report, ‘Squeezed Out’, highlights the plight of many workers including teachers, nurses and police officers, on incomes up to 25,000 pounds per annum who struggle to buy homes. They are excluded from social housing and find private renting an unattractive last resort.

The report outlines how the National Audit Office has saved the taxpayer 1.4 billion pounds over the past three years. It has exceeded its performance target of saving 8 pounds for every 1 pound it costs to run. The 53 major value for money reports produced covered topics from the Millennium Dome to how the health service tackles obesity. It describes how evaluations of PFI deals led to improved approaches to subsequent projects which, last year, achieved savings for the taxpayer of 124 million pounds. NAO work on the National Insurance Fund led to additional debt recoveries worth 51 million pounds. A major challenge for the NAO is persuading people to adopt recommendations and change practices. The report explains how in the past year more effort has been devoted to this work. The NAO hosted major good practice conferences on hip surgery, further education, PFI and risk management.The report is available at www.nao.gov.uk . Hard copies can be obtained from 020 7798 7400